Loftus and Zanni (1975) A Study into Leading Questions

Question 1

Method

Answer 1

• Participants shown footage of a car crash,
• Then asked either ‘Did you see the broken headlight?’ or ‘Did you see a broken headlight?’,
• There was no broken headlight in the film.

Question 2

Results

Answer 2

• 17% of those asked about ‘the’ broken headlight claimed they saw one,
• 7% in the ‘a’ broken headlight group claimed they saw one.

Question 3

Conclusion

Answer 3

• The simple use of the word ‘the’ is enough to affect the accuracy of people’s memories of an event.

Question 4

Evaluations

Answer 4

• Had implications for EWT,
• Was a laboratory study; possible to control any extraneous variables; possible to establish cause and effect,
• Study = artificial; lacks ecological validity.